On Tuesday, May 23, 2023, Hector M. Rivera was sentenced to 33 ½ to 69 years in prison following his conviction% of 14 charges including human trafficking. He will also be required to register as a sex offender for 15 years as part of his sentence handed down by President Judge M. Theresa Johnson. As we previously reported, on July 26, 2021, the Pennsylvania State Police (PSP) filed charges against three people connected to an alleged drug distribution and human trafficking ring operation in and around Reading in Berks County. Hector M. Rivera, 50, of Reading, PA was one of the three people named in connection with the operation.
In early 2020, a confidential informant provided information that led investigators from the PSP Organized Crime Unit to develop several leads and to identify multiple victims involved in the alleged human trafficking ring. In May 2021, PSP provided the results of its investigation to Pennsylvania Senior Deputy Attorney General Heather Castellino for presentment to the 45th Statewide Investigating Grand Jury.
The grand jury found that the three men, including Rivera, operated a corrupt organization involved in human trafficking and the commercial sex trade. Rivera was found to have used drugs to lure some of their victims who struggled with addiction. When they could no longer pay for the drugs, he would use threats of violence to force the women to perform sexual acts on him or other men in exchange. Rivera would also transport the women to hotels for commercial sex and keep all of the money from these transactions.
In a statement announcing the sentencing Attorney General Michelle Henry said, “The defendant exploited and manipulated a young woman, using drugs and threats of violence to keep her under his control. . . . Today’s sentencing ensures that Rivera is held accountable for perpetrating this cruel and violent behavior. The office of attorney general is committed to using every tool at our disposal to prosecute human-trafficking crimes and bring predators to justice.”
The CSE Institute applauds the Pennsylvania State Police and the Office of the Attorney General for their zealous fight against the traffickers in this case. It is important to remember that sex trafficking is happening everywhere in the world, where sex traffickers often use drugs to control their victims, and rarely allow their victims to keep any of the money paid to them by sex buyers. The CSE Institute applauds the law enforcement officials working to put an end to commercial sexual exploitation and the inherent harms that commercial sexual exploitation fosters.
All views expressed herein are personal to the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law or of Villanova University.